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Tim Meyer Responds on Exceptions and "Mixed Motives"

This is a response from Tim Meyer to my post on his new article Many thanks to Simon for his thoughtful take on my new article, A Political Theory of Legal Exceptions, as well as the opportunity to respond. Simon and I do agree on a lot. Most notably, we
Simon Lester 20 Apr 2021 2 min read

Tim Meyer on Exceptions and "Mixed Motives"

My friend Tim Meyer has a new paper entitled "A Political Theory of Legal Exceptions." Back before the pandemic, Tim and I and a few others submitted a proposal for a SIEL 2020 panel entitled "Making Space for Public Policy in International Economic Law Agreements: The Role
Simon Lester 18 Apr 2021 8 min read

In Dubio Mitius - 15 years later

Nothing gets a public international lawyer more stirred up than a maxim of interpretation, and few maxims hit a nerve more readily than "in dubio mitius". Thanks to Petros Mavroidis' recent (and highly recommended) post on transnational subsidies, I found myself squandering a Saturday - when I
Jesse Kreier 17 Apr 2021 1 min read

OBOR, No More?

Last year the European Union (EU) imposed countervailing duties (CVDs) against imports of glass fiber originating in Egypt. Nothing shocking so far, other than the fact that the EU measure was counteracting subsidies granted by … China. How should we think about this and similar issues? Facts of the Case Commission
Petros Mavroidis 16 Apr 2021 4 min read

Assigning Blame for the Impact of COVID-19 on Developing Countries: Markets or Governments

This is from remarks by U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai yesterday at a WTO virtual conference on COVID-19 vaccine equity: We hope to hear more today about how the market once again has failed in meeting the health needs of developing countries.  As part of that we have to
Simon Lester 15 Apr 2021 1 min read

Is USTR Ready To Revisit Necessity Tests?

This is from remarks by U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai today on issues related to trade and the environment: Even as investors take a greater interest in companies’ environmental risk exposure, the multilateral trading system has no rules to address the corporate incentive to participate in the race to
Simon Lester 15 Apr 2021 1 min read

Digital Trade Agreements and Domestic Policy

I did a series of posts recently on digital trade issues, and I have now consolidated them all into a short Cato paper. Here's the intro: National debates over policies that affect the flow of digital information are heating up as censorship, surveillance, control over personal data, and
Simon Lester 14 Apr 2021 2 min read

SIEL April Conversation: Special and Differential Treatment under WTO

From the SIEL: The Society of International Economic Law (SIEL) is pleased to invite you to its February Conversation entitled ‘Special and Differential Treatment under WTO’, with Dr Rashmi Banga (UNCTAD), Prof. Jan Wouters (KU Leuven), Dr Inu Manak (Cato Institute), Vineet Hegde (KU Leuven), chaired and moderated by Jan
Simon Lester 12 Apr 2021 1 min read

Economic Law Tweets

The global dialogue here has been more quiet than usual, so here are some of my economic law tweets over the past week:  @SteveCharnovitz. @SecRaimondo should strengthen USDOC programs without violating international trade law. Recalling my work in the 1970s with Hal Williams to establish the Commerce-Labor Adjustment Action Committee,
Charnovitz 11 Apr 2021 1 min read

Are GPA Arbitrations Confidential?

Inside US Trade has been reporting on a U.S. request to modify its GPA commitments so as to exclude certain medical products. Back in December 2020, there was this: "The U.S. notified the World Trade Organization last week that it intends to remove certain essential medicines and
Simon Lester 08 Apr 2021 2 min read

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International Economic Law and Policy Blog

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

Expert commentary on the law, politics and economics of international trade and investment

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War Tariffs

This is a co-authored post by Kathleen Claussen and Tim Meyer. Last week, President Trump announced that the United States would be imposing new tariffs of 50 percent of the value of any product coming from any country that sells weapons or provides military aid to Iran. Some commentators questioned
14 Apr 2026 5 min read

USMCA Review and Extension Predictions

When the idea of an expiration clause was suggested during the NAFTA renegotiation, I was against it from the start, and Inu and I wrote a pretty critical piece about it at the time. A review is great, we said, let's definitely have reviews, and there are plenty of ways to do that.
08 Apr 2026 5 min read

The Section 301 Surge Continues: Investigating the Adoption/Enforcement/Administration of Forced Labor Import Bans

This Section 301 investigation intends to pressure all sixty named trade partners (even, inexplicably, including Canada and Mexico) to adopt similar enforcement procedures. This announcement is highly problematic for the four reasons I address below.
16 Mar 2026 4 min read

The Section 301 Surge Is Upon Us: Investigating Excess Capacity and Production

The first of a large batch of expected Section 301 investigations has arrived, as USTR announced yesterday that it was initiating investigations on acts, policies, and practices of various countries/economies "relating to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors."
12 Mar 2026 3 min read

Debunking the "Hyperglobalization" Trade Policy Myth

Policy is often shaped by narratives, and recently there has been a bipartisan effort to create a narrative that, starting in the early 1990s, globalization and free trade went too far.
03 Mar 2026 8 min read

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